- Corey Pronman ranked San Jose’s under-23 group first in the NHL and Colorado’s 32nd
- Anaheim came in second, Montreal third, with Calgary and Seattle inside the top 10
- Read below for where Edmonton landed and what the rankings actually count
The Sharks have the best young core in hockey, and it is not close.
Corey Pronman published The Athletic’s 2026 NHL Pipeline Rankings on Tuesday morning, sorting all 32 clubs by the strength of their under-23 talent. San Jose sits at No. 1. Colorado finished dead last at No. 32.
The cutoff here is age, not games played. Anyone 22 or younger as of Sept. 15 counts, so a team keeps credit for the young players it already graduated to the NHL rather than losing them off the books the second they stick.
That rule is why San Jose runs away with it. Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Michael Misa are all still inside the age window, and the Sharks kept adding to the group at the top of the draft.
The collectibles market reached the same conclusion about that core a couple of days ago. Celebrini’s one-of-one rookie card, originally pulled from a pack worth about $15, sold for $1.28 million at auction, the biggest public sale of any hockey card that does not have Wayne Gretzky on it:
Anaheim landed second and Montreal third, giving the Ducks and Canadiens the two closest pipelines to San Jose’s. Pronman put Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson atop the Montreal file. Calgary and Seattle also cracked the top 10.
| Rank | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose Sharks | Best under-23 group in the league |
| 2 | Anaheim Ducks | Second California team in the top two |
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | Slafkovsky, Demidov, Hutson lead the file |
| 31 | Edmonton Oilers | Savoie and Berzkalns top the list |
| 32 | Colorado Avalanche | Thinnest pool in the NHL |
Edmonton checked in 31st, one spot ahead of the Avalanche. Both bills came due the same way, with years of deadline buying and one first-round pick in four drafts for the Oilers.
Savoie and second-rounder Rudolfs Berzkalns headed Edmonton’s list, followed by defenseman Asher Barnett. Isaac Howard came in fourth, and Pronman raised questions about the 2025 Hobey Baker winner’s compete level rather than his skill.
Colorado has a Stanley Cup banner from 2022 to show for the same approach. Edmonton is still waiting on one, which is what makes 31st sting in a way it does not in Denver.
